Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Max Minghella, Yvonne Strahovski, Ann Dowd
Director: Bruce Miller
Rating: 4/5
There are shows that you know are fictional and what happens on screen is not going to affect you, and then there is The Handmaid's Tale. The Season 2 opener picks off exactly from where Season 1 ended with June being taken for a ride in a dark dingy van. When the vehicle stops and the peephole is opened to reveal a stream of light shining through, you notice that it is shining through meshed steel—that what seems like light at the end of the tunnel is actually an approaching train. When we were clutching on tightly to a stress ball all through Season 1, June/Offred's (the stupendous Elisabeth Moss) voiceovers helped calm us down. Well, no such luck this season. Gone are the voiceovers. They are now replaced with the eerie background score that was so prominent all through last season. We can now only take cues from what is happening on screen and it does not make for good viewing.
In case you have forgotten, here is a quick recap of what we are dealing with here. In a distant future, what is now present-day USA is an oppressive totalitarian theocracy called Gilead and the world is suffering from a plague where men and women are increasingly infertile. The only few fertile women are rounded up and sent to a relearning facility under the watchful eyes of the monstrous Aunt Lydia (a magnificent Ann Dowd) where they are each assigned a commander to whom they are subservient. As soon as the commander and his wife are 'blessed' with a baby, the woman then goes on to the next commander. Adapted to a teleserial by Bruce Miller from Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel of the same name, the show's first two episodes are written by the ace writer-director.
Offred is taken to Fenway Park alongside the entire rebel handmaids after they refuse to stone Janine to death, and what follows is the breathtaking staging and execution of a dark moment in a show that has long since abandoned light. After their 'near-death experience', the handmaids return for more punishment at the centre and this is where the season's new storyline starts with Offred declared pregnant.
The second episode sees the escape of Offred into the wild as she chooses one captivity to another. This second hour also offers us the first look of a place that has only been teased so far—The Colonies.
The show airs every Monday at 10 pm on AXN starting from 29th October.